Volume 65, Issue 2

The inheritance system is beset by formalism. Probate courts reject wills on technicalities and refuse to correct obvious drafting mistakes by testators. These doctrines lead to donative errors, or outcomes that are not in line with the decedent’s donative intent. This article argues that formalistic wills doctrines should be reformed because they harm those who attempt to engage in estate planning without specialized legal knowledge or the resources to hire an attorney.

In private mergers and acquisitions deals, parties enter into non-binding preliminary agreements, such as term sheets and letters of intent. These agreements are not contracts—rather, they are signposts for when enough momentum has accumulated that a deal is likely to go forward. Using interviews with deal lawyers, this article provides a rich and layered account of how sophisticated parties use these agreements in modern dealmaking.

This article presents the first comprehensive treatment of the basic and officially “open” question whether Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment directly bans the badges and incidents of slavery. Members of the Thirty-Ninth Congress agreed that Section 1 banned at least some of the badges and incidents; they parted company over which ones. The article argues for embracing the Republican broad reading of the ban, that encompasses denials of equal rights to make contracts, own property, and participate in court.

This comment identifies the ways in which female lawyers continue to face discrimination even after they make partner and highlights a serious gap in current antidiscrimination law that perpetuates discrimination against female partners: Courts have interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect employees but not partners. The comment offers a solution that would bring female law firm partners within the ambit of Title VII.